This Weekend in Photos: January 23-26 – Ventura + Santa Barbara

Adam and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary this past weekend, and decided to head up to Santa Barbara for a couple of nights.

Before deciding on where we’d go away for the weekend, I was actually in touch with Rachel, from My Two Pitties, who told me she’d be down in Southern California to visit her family. She let me know she’d be in Ventura, and since I’ve been dying to meet her and her two adorable pit bulls, and take Maeby to explore other parts of California, I knew I wanted to meet up with her. Finding out that Adam and I would be able to get a great rate on the Fess Parker Doubletree Hilton Resort through my work confirmed that we would be heading up to Santa Barbara on Saturday afternoon, stopping in Ventura on the way to tire Maeby out, and leaving on Monday.

Saturday

We met up at a beach for humans (shh, don’t tell anyone), and it was absolutely gorgeous. The weather was perfect, the waves were huge, and it was great meeting Rachel! Kaya and Norman, the two pitties pictured above with Maeby, are exactly as Rachel described them. Kaya was overly-fixated on her tennis ball, and Norman was just the sweetest thing ever. He and Maeby chased each other around, while Kaya buried her tennis ball in the sand. It was so great meeting someone who loves their dogs as much as we love Maeby, and Adam was happy to have someone to talk about movies with.

After rinsing Maeby off, we said our goodbyes and made the short drive up to our hotel in Santa Barbara.

When my coworker set up our hotel room, she notified them it was our anniversary. Right after we got to our room, we heard a knock on the door and were given some champagne! It was such a nice surprise, but the card was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. [my last name], since the reservation was under my name, and you know, we’re not married, so it made us laugh.

Adam and I took it easy before dinner, and Maeby fell asleep sitting up. I guess her time at the beach wore her out!

We grabbed dinner at Julienne. As much as Adam and I wanted to take pictures of our food, we kept forgetting to because we were so excited to eat when each course came out (we did a four-course menu for $55 a person – such a good deal). Hands down, it was the best meal either of us have ever had.

Sunday

Maeby and I started our day off with a run along the beach, down to the harbor.

It was already pretty warm out, but I really enjoyed how beautiful it was. I know Maeby enjoyed our run too – there were a lot of people and other dogs out walking and running.

In the afternoon, Adam and I grabbed a couple of appetizers and drinks at Santa Barbara FisHouse (so good!) and walked down Stearns Wharf.

We spent the rest of our afternoon just taking it easy, and at night, Adam and I had dinner at Finch and Fork. While most of the reviews were for brunch, the dinner menu looked really good and we weren’t disappointed. Definitely another place worth trying if you’re visiting Santa Barbara!

Monday

Took Maeby for a walk along the beach before heading out…

…and arrived home in the early afternoon. Maeby’s PetBox was waiting for her, and she capped off her long weekend away with new toys and treats.

It’s back to work and back to reality tomorrow, but it was so, so nice to have a weekend away.

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I also wanted to note that I’ve shared this post through Running ‘N’ Reading’s Weekend Update! As always, thanks for hosting!

How was your weekend? If you could have a weekend away anywhere right now, where would you go?

Oh, my gosh, Gloria; Maeby is just so precious. I love seeing your pictures of her; she is very photogenic. 🙂 I’m so glad you had a great time in Santa Barbara; these pictures are absolutely GORGEOUS! I don’t know how you managed to leave; it looks so beautiful. Thank you so much for linking up to the blog again this week; hope you have a great week back at work and that you “recover” from your trip. 🙂

Thank you! It’s nice to know that someone finds Maeby as adorable as I do 🙂 We almost didn’t leave Santa Barbara, but we had to go to work on Tuesday, so unfortunately, we had to leave. Thanks again for hosting the link-up!

I loveee all the beautiful blues in these pictures, and Maeby looks so adorable! ❤ I wish I could be hanging out on a beach right now. Santa Barbara is such a lovely place! I've only gotten the chance to visit once. :O

I guess I don’t have to tell you what I was up to over the weekend…lol! It was awesome meeting you guys too. I love talking dogs…and movies! Maeby is adorable. That picture of her falling asleep with her head up!

We ate at an awesome restaurant in Santa Barbara too called The Lark. I’d highly recommend it for your next visit. It is going to be very hard to say goodbye to Southern California & that beach!